| The Writing Assignment | 434 |
| Writing a Draft: Invention, Research, Planning, and Composing | 436 |
| Evaluating the Draft: Getting a Critical Reading | 446 |
| Improving the Draft: Revising, Formatting, Editing, and Proofreading | 448 |
Write an essay about an important or intriguing subject, and speculate about why it might have occurred. Make sure that it is an appropriate subject for a speculative causal analysis and not simply a report of widely accepted causes. Be sure to demonstrate that the subject exists and to argue for the plausibility of certain causes, while anticipating your readers’ likely objections to your argument as well as their preferred alternative causes.
This Guide to Writing is designed to help you compose your own causal analysis and apply what you have learned from reading other selections in the same genre. The Starting Points chart (below) will help you find answers to questions you might have about composing an essay speculating about causes. Use the chart to find the guidance you need, when you need it.